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Continued from Page B-1 were 6-2 in that stretch and were well on their way to 7-2 on Jan. 8, leading John F. Kennedy by seven early in the fourth quarter when the senior got tripped up in transition and fell on his knee. “I went back on defense but I couldn’t really move,” he recalled. “I felt like I was going to collapse.” Wiggins pulled his star player and the Cavaliers went on to beat the Ojinnaka-less Bengals, 59-55. After that, with Ojinnaka’s return date optimistically set for a Feb. 7 tilt with Paint Branch at the very earliest, the redesigned Blake season began. “It’s been really frustrating, just watching my team fighting on their own,” Ojinnaka said. “I know what I can bring to the team; I bring that motor. When I’m fired up, they’re fired up. It’s frustrating not being able to lead out there, just pretty much being a coach on the sidelines.” Wiggins, meanwhile, has been seeking the silver linings of the situation. “We’ve had several different results,” Wiggins said. “The kids are trying to figure out what we can do and what they can do. Sometimes they figure it out, sometimes it’s still new for us as a team. In the grand scheme of things, I’d hate for this to be football because if this were football we would be done. But we still make playoffs and right now we’re looking for our third or fourth options to step up.” Five-foot-8 junior Duane Davis has been that option. In the first three games postOjinnaka, the guard logged his three highest scoring nights — 16 against Kennedy, 16 in a loss to Paint Branch and 12 in an overtime loss to Montgomery Blair. “I basically knew my role had to change from what I was used to be doing because I used to be a come off the bench kind of guy,” Davis said. “But now
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Continued from Page B-1 she would be a big member of our varsity program,” Kachadorian said. The defining moment, Kachadorian added, was an early sign that Warfield is not easily fazed by the magnitude of any given situation. She does not shy away from big moments and is unafraid of being in a central position. Those qualities, which have also helped her handle the starting point guard position for the Swarmin’ Hornets girls’ basketball team, coupled with her high softball IQ and overall versatility on the diamond helped Warfield land the role of starting catcher by her sophomore year. Propelled by incredible foot speed, Warfield is also an excellent outfielder and that will likely be her primary position next year in college, she said, in addition to backup catcher. “I have the luxury of putting Anna wherever she helps us the most,” Kachadorian said. “She is an excellent catcher and we needed a catcher.” The Swarmin’ Hornets won their second Class 3A West
I got to take responsibility for some of the things [Ojinnaka] used to do. I’m looking to create my own shot more. Teams see that I’m scoring so they’re stepping up on me and now I’m looking for my teammates.” Wiggins said that he hasn’t changed anything in the Xs and Os of the offense but Blake doesn’t have the Ojinnaka safety net when the possession becomes sloppy and the offense isn’t run quite right. “A great player becomes a great player — regardless of what we’re doing, if he’s a true scorer, which he is, he gets his buckets within the offense,” Wiggins said. “Most of [Ojinnaka’s] points came within the offense. We just don’t have a kid right now, when the offense breaks down and we don’t have a good possession, to get the ball to and say ‘Go get a bucket.’ “These kids are learning how to play basketball right now. It’s almost like we didn’t have a scrimmage season. It’s been trying, but I think we’ll be better for it at the end.” Blake will play at least four more games without Ojinnaka, meaning more time for those third and fourth options Wiggins spoke of to develop into serious scoring threats. As his team has progressed, so has Ojinnaka, already strong enough to walk the halls and participate in light drills here and there, meaning the Paint Branch game isn’t an overly optimistic return date. “He is an unbelievable athlete,” Wiggins said. “I didn’t take him out of games because he was tired, I took him out so he could see some things. His conditioning will be fine [when he returns], he’ll be out there. The good thing about him being on the sidelines is that you can really see what your teammates can do when you’re not out there. The trust level with his teammates will definitely go up.” tmewhirter@gazette.net Region title in three years last spring. Warfield batted .478 with 30 runs scored and 15 stolen bases. Defensively, she committed just one error and allowed only three stolen bases. Though often overlooked, a catcher can make or break a softball team. Aside from the aforementioned tangible evidence of Warfield’s contributions, she is Damascus’ eyes on the field and a vocal leader, a role she said she becomes more comfortable with each season. Her rapport with the Swarmin’ Hornets’ pitchers, her ability to keep them in a positive mind frame and bring out their best work can be extremely influential in the outcome of games. Though many high school coaches prefer to call pitches from the dugout, Kachadorian has given Warfield the freedom to call her own games and, evident in Damascus’ results, seems to know exactly what she’s doing. Her catcher’s mindset, to be in tune with every single pitch, also helps keep her focused in the outfield, Warfield said, and she can certainly draw upon her own thought process as a catcher when she is at the plate. “One of the things you look
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James H. Blake High School’s Nathan Bonsu takes it to the hoop against Bethesda-Chevy Chase on Friday. for in a catcher is intelligence of the ball game,” Kachadorian said. “I think Anna is an athlete who can see things from a coach’s perspective and understands the big picture. She knows at bat how to read defenses and decide what to do. She has a lot of that awareness of game situations that a lot of high school players don’t seem to always have. She kind of sees what’s going on in the whole field, not just what’s going on relative to her position.” Given her awareness, Warfield is able to act on pure instinct. She thrives in big situations because she doesn’t overanalyze, Kachadorian said. She sees what needs to be done and she takes care of it, like when Damascus was down and out against Sherwood three years ago and numerous occasions since. “[Warfield] is very much an athlete that’s in the moment, she doesn’t outthink herself,” Kachadorian said. “She recognizes what needs to be done and she sets out to accomplish it. There’s almost an effortless in what she does, a lot of that is in the moment.” jbeekman@gazette.net
and you’re coaching, you can push kids as hard as you want to and they might dislike it and they might not care for that but when you’re outside of the gym and the last horn sounds, they have to know you’re a human being,” Foringer said. “You have to let them see the other side of you, let them see you’re one of the guys, that you’re right there with them. They have to see you smile, that you’re just a regular guy.” It is also imperative, coaches agreed, that players know their coach truly cares about their well-being. Whether it’s attending a soccer game in the fall season or writing an individual note to a player at the start of the season, student-athletes need to know a coach has their back, Kenah said, and genuinely cares about them. It took 11th-year Thomas S. Wootton High girls’ coach Maggie Dyer precisely two years to turn a county doormat program into a perennial postseason contender. In her third season, the Patriots went from four wins to 16, their first winning campaign in more than 15 years. Since then Wootton has only endured one nonwinning season, two years ago when starting essentially an entirely freshman lineup — even then the Patriots almost met the .500 record mark. And it has not been for the number of Division I athletes who have walked through Dyer’s door. “People don’t remember but before Maggie got there, Wootton was a guaranteed win, they were winning one or two games, period,” Kenah said. “I think she’s only had one Division I player but she’s been able to get guards to scrap and shoot and they’re so well prepared. Now you put Wootton in the bank for 15 to 18 wins a year.” Dyer, like Harwood, Kenah, Foringer, Whitman boys’
coach Chris Lun, John F. Kennedy’s Diallo Nelson, Montgomery Blair’s Damon Pigrom, Damascus girls’ coach Steve Pisarski and the plethora of other coaches who have established consistently competitive programs within the county, is a players’ coach. Up until a sore knee sidelined him this year, Harwood has been playing recreational league basketball every week with the same team for two decades. Basketball should be fun, he said, and it’s important for coaches to remember the parts of playing basketball that they enjoy. Coaches also agreed there is a correlation between consistency within a coaching staff and a program’s success. Most of the county’s perennially successful teams have longer standing coaches. This helps the future players know what to expect when they come in, Foringer said. But that doesn’t necessarily mean a team will play the same style year in and year out. The best coaches are flexible with their approach and can make adjustment based on each season’s personnel. For example, Pisarski said he had to deviate from the guard-oriented approach he intended to employ at Damascus to involve the post players he’s been lucky enough to have. Foringer’s teams have played 3-2 zone and full-court press in back-to-back years thanks to teams with completely different dynamics. The best coaches are in tune with what best suits their players and are unafraid to step outside their own comfort zones. “I think like anything else, I searched for what I was passionate about and for me it was basketball,” Dyer said. “If I couldn’t play anywhere, I wanted to coach, to be a part of it. You always try to surround yourself with things you’re passionate about.” jbeekman@gazette.net
FILE PHOTO
Damascus High School’s Anna Warfield slides safely home past Montgomery Blair catcher Maria Cruz during a game on May 1, 2012.